The Fearless Four

Bearing Your Testimony is Part of What Builds It, Ministering to Those in Need and She Gave us Each a Dog!!

 We had a pretty good week this past week. We had a good lesson with the {} family.  We decided to do an unofficial testimony meeting and share what the gospel can mean to us. I shared my testimony about the Atonement and how it can help you overcome stuff in your life and I directed it towards Brother {}. Even Sister {}, who isn't a member of our church and doesn't seem super interested bore her testimony that she can feel the difference in her home and in her family since we've been coming over. We were kinda hoping that that would happen, but not getting our hopes it. It was super exciting that she did that, though, because bearing your testimony is part of what builds it. Everyone who was there could feel the spirit.
    This was pretty cool, too. After the lesson, Sister {} said she had something for us. Elder {} and I had no idea what to expect. She prefaced it by saying that she knew we loved dogs, but also knew we couldn't have one while on a mission. With a preface like that, we really had no idea what to expect. She reached into a bag and pulled out these little toy dogs, one for me and one for my comp. The coolest part was that my comp got a German Shepard and i got a pug. The story behind that is the family has four dogs, including a pug named Toby and a German Shepard that's six feet from nose to tail named Luke. My companion really likes Luke and I fell in love with Toby as soon as I met him, so Sister {} got us the dogs that she knew we'd like the best. We were both pretty happy about it just because of how awesome the gift was, and it shows how much the family loves us. 
     Saturday night we were out with Elder{}(remember me talking about him the last time I was in Layton?) . I seriously love that man.  We ended up staying for an hour and taught her less-active friend who was there who has been struggling recently. We gave her a blessing of comfort and the spirit was super strong.
    Oh, and to wrap the week up, we got invited to a Tongan barbecue, and it was absolutely amazing. It was probably the first real poly food I've had since Glendale, including real O'tai. It was pretty awesome.
     This work is absolutely amazing. I know the Atonement is real and that it can save our lives if we're willing to do our part to tap into it. I know that God loves us. His gospel is true, and that truth can be found everywhere, but the fullness of it was restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, and that priesthood authority is here on the earth in this Church.

Love,
Elder Jake Lusk.

ps. Pugs are those dogs that are so ugly that their cute. The {} pug, Toby,  is absolutely adorable, and the next time I'm over there I'll take a picture of me with it so you can see just how cute it is and why i want one when i'm off my mission.

The Temple, No Big Miracles only Small Ones and Lots of Good Potential

We just got back from the temple not that long ago. We took the FrontRunner train down from Layton, and the the Trax system into downtown to temple square. Going to the temple is always a great experience. Aside from that, things have been pretty normal up here. It's getting warmer, and so we're biking more, even though we've got a car. How's everything going back home?
I don't know if we had any big miracles this week, but we had the usual little stuff, like getting prompted to stop and see if the people at the house with the moving van need help, and it turns out they do, and also want to know where the church is and who the bishop is. Or seeing how the scripture about take no thought what ye shall eat literally gets fulfilled on a mission because when you work hard, your needs will be met by others who are in tune to the Spirit. We're still teaching the {} family, and they should be on date this week for some time in the coming month. We had a long conversation with the bishop in that ward the other night, and he's a totally awesome, missionary-minded bishop. There's a lot of good work and good potential work in his ward. :)

I love you guys. The church is true. This work is amazing, and the Atonement is real.

Love, Elder Jake Lusk

Taking Care of Business...The Lord's Business

Hey guys!

It's been a pretty good week. We had another great lesson with the {} family this week, and they're coming along well. We've gotten several good referrals, so there's some good potential to be teaching new people starting this week. One of the young men gave a talk in church and told about how he bore his testimony to one of his nonmember friends and how his friend was able to feel the spirit. We talked to him right after sacrament meeting and found out about his buddy. He gave us his contact info and said he'd be totally willing to come to discussions with us. We contacted the referral and he said he wasn't interested at the time, but he does go to church and has a strong faith in Christ. It's still awesome how missionary-minded the members here are becoming. President Hansen has said if we take care of theirs, they'll take care of ours. I know that if I work hard to contact and teach people's friends out here, my buddies back home will be able to be found and taught. This work is pretty amazing, and I know that this gospel is true and the Atonement is real.

Love you guys,

Elder Jake Lusk

Eternal Families

We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a family. The dad is member, but was inactive for a while and is returning to activity. His wife isn't a member, and neither are his kids. Right now we're teaching the kids.. Teaching kids happens a lot in Utah and a lot of the time it can be challenging. A lot of kids aren't focused at all and won't tell you if they don't understand something. These kids, though, are focused and understand everything we teach them to the point where they can teach it back to us in their own words. They're awesome! The Dad has great goals for his whole family and wants them to be able to go through the temple  so that they can enjoy the blessings of an eternal family.  That's awesome, and we're very excited for them.

That's awesome about all the people from the Winchester stake that are heading out on missions.  Keep me updated!
Love, Elder Lusk

A New Companion, Area Books and Elder Ballard

Hey guys!

Things have been going well in the past week. Like I said last time, I got a new companion, and his name is Elder }{. He's from New Hampshire, so once again I've got another East Coast companion. We've been having fun together and working hard to get things done. We've met a couple new people by following the Spirit and going to talk to people. We've also been getting a lot of work done by going through our area book and contacting former investigators. Every time you teach someone, you write up a teaching record with info about the person, what they've been taught, and how each lesson went. This helps out not only you, but the next missionaries to come along. There's a space on the back for if the person gets dropped as an investigator, you can write why. The paper then gets moved to a different folder in the area book for future missionaries to go back to later. We tend to get a lot of work done that way because it's people who have already been prepared, and a lot of them are willing to meet with the missionaries again. For some people it takes several sets of missionaries of the course of even several years before they're ready to get baptized. So yeah, we've been working a lot with that and have been finding people that way. We've also got a recent convert that we're taking to general conference in about a month, so that's exciting as well. Oh yeah, we're also having a mission meeting with Elder Ballard of the Twelve tomorrow. Should be a great experience. I love getting to hear from Apostles, especially in smaller settings.

That's what's going on this week. If you have any questions, ask me! I know that this work is amazing and the Jesus loves us. The Atonement is real. Love you guys.

Elder Jake Lusk.

ps. I finally got some of those letters that you guys sent. Thanks for the thoughts on moral relativism. I think that helped. Love you!

Throwing Down the Gauntlet, Rising to the Challenge and Staging a Comeback

{}, our ex-convict, got baptized on Saturday, and that was a pretty cool experience. I was glad I could have a part in teaching him, and happy to see him get baptized. {} was unable to be baptized becuase of her family. Right now, it's looking like things are done for good, but it's not. This isn't over yet. In some ways, Satan's throwing down the guantlet. It's our chance to prove to ourselves whether we're going to rise to the challenge or not. Like I said, this is far from over. And I'm going to have another six weeks to stage a comeback. We got transfer info, and I'm staying up here in Layton. I'm going to be with an elder named Elder Ogden who I've met before. He's been out a while longer than me, but I've served in a lot of areas that he's served in. I'm excited to be with him. It should be a pretty good transfer coming up. I know the area, so I'm co-senior comp. I'm excited for what the next six weeks will bring. 

So yeah, that's the news for this week. as usual, hit me up with any questions. I know this work is amazing, and the church is true. I know Jesus knows and loves each and every one of us and that's why he suffered and died to atone for our sins. As it says in the scriptures, we're saved by grace, after all we can do. 

Love, Elder Jake Lusk